Palm Oil Poised to Surge 21% as Demand Returns, Sime Says

Palm, the world’s most-consumed cooking oil, is set to rally as much as 21 percent in the next eight months as a pickup in global demand and a decline in output reduce record stockpiles, according to Sime Darby Bhd.

Futures in Malaysia, the global benchmark, may range from 2,800 ringgit ($916) a metric ton to 3,100 ringgit in the first half of 2013, said Franki Anthony Dass, executive vice president at Sime Darby Plantations Sdn., a unit of the world’s biggest listed producer. The commodity may trade between 2,400 ringgit and 2,700 ringgit until the end of this year as demand recovers before the festival season in India, Dass said Oct. 19.